Gambia exit AFCON Qualifier

The Gambia senior national team on Saturday bid farewell to the Gambian people with a pulsating 1-1 draw against the Stallions of Burkina Faso in what was the Scorpions’ final game of the African Nations Cup qualifiers played at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

Paul Put and his charges got off to a sparkling start to the weekend’s encounter and eventually found themselves 1-nil up in style through leggy defender Momodou Futty Danso, who hammered home from a neat header thanks to Pa Modou Jagne’s long throw-in.

The visitors (Stallions) rallied behind as they kept attacking the Gambian defensive set-up before getting their effort rewarded with an equaliser thanks to a stoppage time strike by star player Momodou Dagano.

But the Stallions have Aziz Corr Nyang to thank for his careless play that resulted in their equalizer a situation that left the Gambian fans disappointed as they could not hide their anger to see the Scorpions depart the qualifiers with yet another disappointing result that has seen them only collect 4 points out of possible 12 points in the process.

The result in Banjul was met with disappointment by the few Scorpions fans who travelled to the Independence Stadium to watch the boys play. It is also obvious that even a massive victory would not be enough to see The Gambia through to the finals due to take place in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea next year.

The result was more than enough to see the Stallions of Burkina Faso open up a huge gap at the summit of the group with 10 points in four matches but their hope of advancing to the finals largely depends on the outcome of the appeal case filed against them.

It would be recalled that Burkina Faso were accused of fielding in an ineligible player during their encounter with Namibia, an appeal case which is still pending.